


Wolves, Intertwined, Howling

by Wolfboulder



Series: Ned Stark Deserved Better [7]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe, Aunt/Nephew Incest, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brother/Sister Incest, F/M, Minor Arya Stark/Viserys Targaryen, Minor Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, NSDB, Ned Stark Deserved Better, Starkcest (ASoIaF), switching POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 19:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18745489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfboulder/pseuds/Wolfboulder
Summary: The Rebellion tore the Realm asunder and when Ned finds Lyanna alive, he starts down a path to save what little of his family he can.





	Wolves, Intertwined, Howling

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Well, here’s a new story for y’all. Bet ya didn’t see this one coming!
> 
> If you’re seeing this then I finally decided to throw my hat into the Ned/Lyanna ring once more. Cause if no one else is going to do it I will, damnit! 
> 
> This story has a switching POV and I hope you can easily follow along. 
> 
> Warning: This story contains a small M-Rated section. It will be appropriately labeled.
> 
> This story in an AU (Alternate Universe)
> 
> This story has no editor, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own GoT/ASOIF (Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice and Fire) or any of its characters, I’m just writing my story in their world.

* * *

 

They were aboard a ship sailing to Essos, Braavos was their true destination though none aboard the ship knew that. All they knew was they were to escort two Northerner’s and a child barely born across the Narrow Sea. He had made sure his deed was paid for in full, and his honor spat in his mind as he used the Dayne’s ancestral sword as a bargaining chip. Yet, what was honor when compared to love? Love was the one thing that could make any honorable man do anything. A man would do anything for love after all.

 

His introspection was broken by the soft whimpers of someone having a nightmare. He didn’t need to think to know who it was, it could only be one of the two sleeping people in the small room of the ship, and Ned held a sleeping child in his arms. He shifted his hold on his nephew and laid his now free hand on his sister’s forehead, her fever had lessened, but he still tried to gently shake her awake without disturbing her son.

 

“Lyanna, wake up.” His voice drifted through the silence, but Lyanna’s eyes twitched once before they opened.

 

“Ned?” her voice was soft and hoarse all at once, but it was stronger than it had been in Dorne. “Are we there yet?”

 

“No, you were trembling, having a nightmare.”

 

Ned watched as Lyanna seemed to curl in on herself, her face being hidden by the pillow the captain had offered them from his own room. Ned’s fingers stroked through the short cut dark hair Lyanna had. They had cut it, to disguise themselves a little more through out their journey East, Ned had even let his beard grow without shaving it, all to disguise themselves.

 

Ned hated that they had to hide themselves, but with Robert sitting on the Iron Throne and calling for any and all Targaryen’s to die, he knew they had no choice. So, they were cramped in a store room with a single bed, aboard a ship with many years on the sea as they sailed to a new life, hopefully a better one.

 

8 8 8

 

The air was wet, salty, and the rocking of the ship made her want to empty anything she ate. She had sailed, but her mind was near breaking, a war had happened, all because she had fallen for a pretty voice and a song of prophecy. She had loved Rhaegar, had fallen for him at Harrenhal as many young maidens surely did. Yet, he was married, and though she was no Ned, she would be no man’s mistress. She had her own honor after all. Yet, she could not say no to him when he approached her outside the walls of Riverrun. How he had found her she knew not, but it was like one of the stories Old Nan had told, of a Prince rescuing the maiden from a giant oaf who would tire of her.

 

She had not known Brandon would ride to King’s Landing demanding Rhaegar’s head, she had not thought it possible. She was young then, though she still was young now, caught up in being loved by a prince. She did not think of the consequences of her actions, the wolfs blood compelling her forward every step of the way. Until it stopped howling in victory and started howling in despair. Her inner wolf despaired as words of war and the death of her father reached her ears. The call for her brother’s heads had sent her to Rhaegar, how long had she been in the dark she did not know, but she raged against the dragon prince, showing him the she wolf of Winterfell was not to be trifled with, but dragons cared not for what other animals thought of. Rhaegar had become different after she had his child within her, becoming more and more distant. Words of a prophecy whispered silently at any given time.

 

She was locked away in Dorne, for no one would think to look there for her, why would Rhaegar hide his wife in the place where his former was born. He was right, for no one would find them and news of the war, a war fought in her name, came slow if at all. The last bit of news that she got was that her brother Ned was leading a large host of Northern bannermen South and seemed unstoppable as they seemed to be moving to meet with a Stormlands host lead by her former betrothed Robert Baratheon. Hearing the name of the man she was to marry had sent her into a sadness that she tried desperately to escape, and she failed. Had she been perhaps more like Ned than Brandon, she would perhaps suffer the shame of having a husband that warmed beds that weren’t her own.

 

Love is sweet, but it could not change a man’s nature. She had told Ned that, in regard to Robert, but she perhaps should have thought of that with Rhaegar. He had crowned her while married, shaming Elia Martell before all of Westeros. Why would she have been any different?

 

Yet, Ned was perhaps the exception. He was by all rights, correct in his war, his victories, and when he had the opportunity to turn her over to Robert, he had drug them further South and damned his honor for her. Because she was his sister, his family. He loved her as such. Perhaps it could change a man, or maybe Ned’s nature was to do what he could for his loved ones first, consequences be damned. At least they had that part in common. Consequences be damned.

 

Her dreams, long before Ned rescued her from the tower, had been filled with fire, ice, and blood. Mostly blood, those of her father his stoic face split into agony as he burned alive, and nameless knights and warriors as they all fought for a war that none wanted to fight. Yet, they were fighting, and their blood spilled on the ground, in grass, in streams, in the waters of the Trident. She carried guilt, and the ghosts of those that died for her echoed in her mind every time she slept, and she usually woke up with tears staining her face.

 

Ned, her terribly sweet brother, was by her side through it all though, hushing her whispered apologies, and wiping her tears away. He took the blame for her when they grew up, he was the one to teach her to wield a sword and ride a horse. He was the one who slayed many and lead Brandon’s host South to rescue her. He succeeded, but Ned threw away everything only to bring her to safety.

 

For now, though, she let Ned comfort her, his arms wrapping around her weakened body as she tried desperately to sleep without terrors in her dreams. Perhaps one day she would, but they seemed lessened as she heard whispered words when the images seemed the worse. It was Ned’s voice, as it often was that soothed her, and her dreams were of a blissful nothing.

 

8 8 8

 

Their voyage was long, to travel the Narrow Sea by going North, and to avoid any patrols of the newly installed Baratheon reign, made the long journey slower. Yet, for secrecy it was a small price to pay. Ned was enjoying the rare moments where he could spend time on deck, helping the deck hands and captain with menial tasks to help pay for their voyage. He arms and back were strong as he had bargained and he would prove his worth to the aged ship captain, for Lyanna and his nephew no price was to large.

 

He learned of things he never thought he would, from new curses to how to tie knots so sturdy yet easily undone for any storms that happened their way. Over the many weeks he had spent on the ship he thought he had gained some respect from the crew and captain, the first sign of such is when they offered to share their wine with him. He had partaken in some but had left the heavy drinking to the resting night crew.

 

The captain had taken some time to explain a few ways for a man to tell the direction he was going by the stars in the sky and their patterns. Ned had thanked the man and his crew each time they took him under their wing, as honor would demand.

 

Yet not all was easy, for there were obviously small factions between the crew, some born of experience, some of homelands, and others of greed. He had gotten into one fight, as he caught one of the bigger crew men in his small room, leering over a sleeping Lyanna and her son. Ned had never really beaten a man before, but he did that day. He beat the mans nose flat and blinded him in one eye as his rage came from deep within his chest, a cold calm fury having many moving from his path. That had earned him respect and disdain in equal measure, but no one dared try and invade the space of the strange Northerners again, and that was his goal.

 

He would protect them until he could no longer draw breath and then his ghost would watch over them, so bound by his promise was Eddard Stark, and if any man would keep his word, it was the honorable to a fault Quiet Wolf of Winterfell.

 

8 8 8

 

He wished to bounce the small man’s skull off the stone walls of the room, but he was able to reign in his anger as his wife squeezed his scarred hand in her own pale ones. The man before him was a friend and yet he delivered nothing but sad news and bones of his fallen siblings. He had been forced to let Ned lead his forces as he recovered from his torture and burns, and Ned had proved a capable commander of his armies, leading them through victories. Yet, what Brandon Stark had truly done was send his brother to his death. None could have foresaw what would happen at the damned tower in Dorne, but Brandon’s anger pooled in his chest all the same, Ned and Lyanna both gone, with only their bones to keep him company. It was not the way life was supposed to go, but he would take the cards life had dealt him and win the game.

 

The North Remembers.

 

8 8 8

 

It was a lie that he felt no need to correct, that the two of them were married and running from Westeros to Essos to live free as any two people could be. It was an utter lie, and really, he didn’t understand how any of them fell for it. Still he let them believe it, it was to better their disguises, and explain their familiar almost intimate closeness that families shared.

 

Their journey had been slow going, but they were nearing their destination, if the old captain was to be believed. Ned had gained new callouses and scars as he worked for their passage, even fending off a rouge ship of pirates alongside the crew, his sword cutting through bare chest as easily as he had commanded men in the war. Ned hoped he wouldn’t have to use his sword as much as he had in the war in their new home to be, but he would if it was the way to have them live in a house rather than on the streets.

 

Their destination was unknown to those on the ship, but they would leave the ship in Pentos, before journeying North to Braavos, the freest of the free cities. As much as he had learned on the ship of the life he could expect in Essos as well as some useful skills, he could feel the tension radiating off Lyanna. She was mostly better, her only real problem the lack of meat on her bones. She was ready to leave the ship, and she would soon get her wish.

 

“Ludd tells me we should be docking in only a couple more days Lya.” He used the name the captain had given him, though he couldn’t tell if it was his true one.

 

“Good, very good Ned. I grow tired of the ships walls and would rather travel the deserts of Dorne barefoot than stay any longer on the ship.”

 

Lyanna’s laughter was a good sound, it meant she was moving further and further to as she was. Though Ned wasn’t sure she would ever be the same, he thought the same of himself as it were. They had had different experiences, but they had both come so close to the edge of breaking and were barely able to claw their way away from that edge. Lyanna’s mind was her worst enemy, the guilt bearing down on her. He himself could admit that the rebellion had changed him, his hands held the blood of many men, either form his own hands or from his commands. They both had blood on their hands, but where they were going none would know of it unless the wished for them too.

 

They ventured to the secluded bow of the ship to entertain Jon, the name of the last Targaryen with the stars, as they spoke in hushed voices of their plans. Ned would be sorry to leave the mostly friendly crew, but he would be happy to set his feet on land once more. To be able to ride a horse with Lyanna as they adventured through a strange new land.

 

They were almost at the end of the first step, and Ned sent prayers to gods that perhaps could not hear him. He prayed for Lyanna, Jon, Brandon, Benjen. He prayed for their father, and he prayed for safe travels as they embarked on the next leg of their journey.

 

Gods had a funny way of answering one’s prayers though, Ned would soon learn of it.

 

8 8 8

 

Their sea voyage had been long, and so very boring in her opinion, she hadn’t been well enough to do more than sleep for most of their journey, and when she was well enough, they were almost to Pentos. In truth the city disgusted her, the fake smells and scents making it hard of her to breathe deeply when the entered the city. They had a fair amount of coin; part of the strong-arm bargaining Ned had done to get them this far. Yet she could see the way Ned tensed when she asked of their plan now. Their destination was Braavos, the freest of the free cities, but Lyanna wasn’t sure Ned was entirely sure in how they would get there.

 

Yet in a strange twist of fate Ludd, the old ship captain offered Ned a spot on his ship once more, as they would be sailing up the coast of Essos, to their true destination. Lyanna didn’t dislike the man but he seemed to know too much of their plans that they talked of only in the privacy they could get on a cramped ship. Lyanna still felt the sting of Rhaegar’s betrayal, se had thought she could trust him after all, and Ned was steadfast in his stance. Her brother thought it would work better than traveling on their own, far faster at the very least and could perhaps earn them coins for use in Braavos.

 

Ned, the conniving bastard that he had bribed her with promises of a new horse, bow, and sword if she ventured back on the wooden prison of a ship. It would be quicker, she conceded that point. Ned was always the tricky sibling growing up, he was always honest, except when he wasn’t. It was very rare that he used his reputation for his own gain, usually as a way to take the blame for things she and Bran had done. Yet, he had it all the same, and she had fallen for it once again.

 

So, they boarded the ship once again, for hopefully the last time, with new clothing and plenty of food for Jon. Her son, their son for their disguise, was a quiet child, much like his pretend father. Perhaps he was like his true father, brooding but even Rhaegar had spoken more than her son made noise. It wasn’t a rare occurrence for her to find Jon and Ned sitting quietly staring at the stars when he was not being worked half to death. She had almost given the captain the full weight of her wrath when Ned had been worked for near a full day before allowed a break. It was only Ned’s strong arms lifting her to take her to their private room that kept her from possibly getting them thrown overboard.

 

Still, she listened and learned form Ned as she always did, making her place in the small kitchen aboard the ship, making the crews food. It wasn’t what she wanted to be doing, but they would be living much more meager lives in Braavos and she could use the practice.

 

If she felt a small coil of heat in the pit of her stomach when Ned smiled at her for trying, well she thought none needed to know that.

 

8 8 8

 

He found he actually liked the times he was being worked to the bone, it reminded him of his time in the Eyrie, being pitted up against Robert as he swung that ridiculously heavy hammer with one hand. He enjoyed the feeling of his muscles being stretched out and used in ways they never had been before. Eddard Stark liked to work with his hands and being thrust into the roles of keeping a ship running scratched an itch he hadn’t known he really had. Lyanna, in her own way, worried for him being over worked, but Ned had done harder things than working on a ship. Most things came easier when one was knee deep in a war.

 

Ludd was a fair man, wise from years upon years on the seas and on land. He passed on wisdom in the form of creative cursing, and Ned was as eager as always to learn anything that could help him survive, a trait he picked up when he was cornered in Stoney Sept. He was reluctant to speak of his time in the rebellion, though it wasn’t hard to tell he had fought in battles, or so Ludd had told him. He had the eyes of a man who had killed, for one reason or another, he had blood on his hands. Not many in this world didn’t anymore.

 

Still he would placate his wild sister by teaching her what he could for as long as her attention would let him. Her efforts in the simple kitchen of the ship made him proud. She may complain as the share a single cot with Jon but she still worked harder than some of the men above.

 

Yet, as much as he liked the ship, Braavos got ever closer, and Ned would take his sister and nephew off the ship and find them a new home away from the worries of Westeros and Lyanna’s nightmares.

 

8 8 8

 

Braavos was beautiful in its own way, a city made of islands. It was not the North, their old home, but they would make do. It was a city of free people, and all were welcome. They would be welcomed. They had gained some coin for their work aboard Ludd’s ship. She finally learned the name of it, _The Maidens Dream_. It was a cruel irony of course, for it was her own dreams that started them on their path to the ship. Yet, she was happy to be off of it, ready to begin their new life within the free city. The coin they gained from their work along with what Ned brought with him lead them to a simple tavern, for them to gather their wits and plan their true next move.

 

It was mid-day and the small tavern inn had a small crowd, and Lyanna stepped a tad bit closer to Ned as eye turned to peer at the trio. The novelty wore off quickly as Ned ordered some food and drink for them, his voice rough from weeks of salt air. She imagined her voice held the same roughness as they quietly conversed of their next step.

 

“So, Ned, what do we do now?” she made sure to keep her voice low, lest they attract unwanted attention.

 

“This place was mentioned by Ashara, before we left, she told me it was run by good people who were known to help travelers.” Ned’s voice was soft as well, and his face held a solemn look as he talked of House Dayne.

 

Lyanna knew he didn’t like his own actions in dealing with them, and perhaps they would curse his name for all of history. She could feel her own mouth frowning at the mention of the beautiful Ashara Dayne. The woman Ned had danced with at Harrenhal, the woman who was not at all subtle in her advances on her brother. She would probably have used him and left him heartbroken had Ned followed her, but he didn’t simple to involved in the negotiations he held with Ashara’s father.

 

As they ate and took turns feeding Jon, Lyanna thought, not for the first time, if they actually knew what they were doing if they were still just running and thinking only as they went. As she fed Jon the last of his mashed food, she watched as Ned walked easily up to the counter engaging in a quiet conversation with the pretty barmaid. Lyanna wasn’t sure why there was a heat in her chest when she saw barmaid lean farther forward than was needed or polite. Still she felt the heat in her chest die down when Ned returned to their table with his gentle smile.

 

“She said we can rent a room for a good rate until we find somewhere else to stay.”

 

“She probably wants you to stay in her bed, Eddard.”

 

Ned’s sputtering face was worthy enough of a laugh, and so she did, full bellied as he tried to dispel her accusation.

 

8 8 8

 

He worked menial labors for the widowed owner of the tavern, her task sometimes great and others tame. From patching the roof of the inn to making sure her patrons’ horses and belongings got to the rooms they needed to be in. Ned couldn’t help but feel his face heat up every time the woman flirted with him, Lyanna’s words ever in the forefront of his mind when she did so. It was not that Ned didn’t find the woman attractive, her deeply tanned skin a contrast to his much lighter tone.

 

No, it was Lyanna that stood in his way. They were supposed to be married, even if it was a lie and he not shame their lie by laying with another woman, no matter how many times she not so subtly hinted she would welcome him to her bed easily. Instead he played along just enough to be polite but still gently refused her invitations, not wanting to make their gracious host an enemy.

 

He spent the time he didn’t use for work searching for any sort of house he could attempt to buy, though many of the homes he may have found were either priced far outside his range or run down to almost be unsaleable. He would continue to look though and on one such outing as he walked through the streets by himself that he saw them. He knew of their existence but had heard nothing past that they were supposed to be on Dragonstone or perhaps in the ground if Robert caught them. Yet Ned had not seen hair and eye that color since Rhaegar died on the Trident and Aerys died on the steps to his throne.

 

Ned was not an assassin, but he could practice stealth when he needed to. Many nights sneaking out of the Eyrie to collect a drunken Robert had made it an essential skill. He could be wrong after all, but his gut was telling him he was correct.

 

They were moving through the markets very quickly, not fast enough to cause a scene but fast enough to not be disturbed in their pace. They were walking determined to get somewhere, and he followed along, stopping every now and again to not cause suspicion. He followed them to a modest home, it was a tall house, a tree stretching up to stop beside a window, and the door was red. Ned dared not knock and simply walked on, marking the location in his mind for further consideration.

 

Eddard housed one Targaryen, he would not give up two more if he was correct, for he was not a dishonorable man no matter how much he thought himself as one.

 

8 8 8

 

She wasn’t sure what to think of the news Ned had just told her about. If he was right, it could only be Viserys and the child Rhaella was supposedly carrying within her womb when she was sent to Dragonstone. Ned told her he had only known they were there, and Stannis was ordered to King’s Landing soon after Ned departed the Stormlands for Dorne. If they were, then they were the uncle and aunt of her son. Jon was currently happily cooing for once in the arms of Ned, with Ned letting the boy play with his fingers. It was a sight worthy of admiration, to see her gruff brother whispering in a silly voice to her son and her quiet son making small happy sounds. Perhaps it was a sign for their future.

 

For what her brother had discovered was something they could not act without thinking on, if they acted in a rash manner as her instincts had told her too, they could merely end up in more trouble than before. She tried to think of what Ned would think to do, for he probably already made up his mind but still he asked for her opinion.

 

“We should wait, they are more than likely hiding, as we are.” Her voice was a whisper.

 

Ned’s smile was directed at her, and she had guessed right, he had made up his mind and they agreed on it. For now, they would continue with their lives as they had, the goal a home to raise Jon in.

 

8 8 8

 

They had done it, they had worked enough to save a decent sum of coin, without going to far into the coin they brought from Westeros. He had found a house; it was a wide squatted building. It was on a piece of land within the confines of the mountains surrounding the bay but away from the city itself. A secluded home surrounded by trees and the water of the ocean. It was nary a half hour of rowing to reach the outskirts of Braavos and little more than that to the heart of the city. Even then small fishing villages laid only a handful of miles in either direction of their new home. Ned watched with a smile on his face as Lyanna led Jon around their home, talking in a ridiculously high pitch as she explained all manner of things that Jon surely didn’t understand.

 

It was a good sight for him to behold, it was what as he pictured the family, he would one day have. He never thought he would be faking a marriage to his own sister while raising his nephew as his own son. Life had a way of turning out for better or worse, one way or another and they had traded a mad world for one where they could perhaps be free of the burdens fo guilt that plagued them.

 

8 8 8

 

The house was now their home, it was sparse for they would need to fill it with furniture and the love of a family. The only furniture in the house for now were the beds Ned had bought and had put in before he brought her to their new home. It wasn’t a large house, but it was wide and had an open but comforting feeling to it. It was a home where a family could be raised and raised happily. It was more than enough.

 

Jon seemed happy with the change, and Lyanna was more than a little relieved to get Ned away from the big bosomed harlot of a barmaid. The woman was not good enough for Ned even if they weren’t pretending to be married. Ned was currently chopping wood for the hearth in the main room, it’s size enough to heat the whole house if needed. Ned had used a large portion of their money, but they now had a home of their own, and her fake husband and real brother kept good on his promise and presented her with a new horse, bow, and sword. Though the horse and bow were shared between them for work around their house and hunting of small game, he had bought them all the same. The horse wasn’t as large as the ones they rode in the North, but it had muscles well suited for work. She was happy to have a horse again all the same, even if she could not race it through the snowy fields surrounding Winterfell.

 

The air had been getting colder with each passing moon, and Lyanna wondered if they would see snow as winter seemed to be slowing coming to Braavos. That day was a warmer day than most and Lyanna let her growing son crawl around outside under her watchful eye as Ned’s axe cut wood in half with each grunt of effort.

 

They had traveled and worked for more than a year and they had pretended to be husband and wife the whole time, and perhaps such a thing, could in turn change one’s perspective when they least expected it. All these thoughts rushed through her head as she watched her shirtless brother’s chest heave with each breath he took. The sweat on his body glistened in the afternoon light and she knew she should not be looking at Ned like she was, like he was her husband instead of her brother. She looked away with her face feeling hot only a moment before he caught her.

 

When they slept that night with Jon happily between them her face was just as scarlet as it had been in the afternoon light. Her dreams were of no help in stopping her red face, but perhaps it would be okay as long as no one but her knew of her thoughts.

 

8 8 8

 

His brother, the only one he had left was ready to begin his journey to the Wall. Guilt hung around Benjen’s shoulders just as it did his own. He would not stop his brother, but he would see him away even if his inner wolf raged at the thought of being alone. But he wouldn’t be alone, as his wife’s hand squeezing his would let him know. Her stomach was swollen with his child and the wolfs blood in him stirred at the thought.

 

Benjen left Winterfell quietly in the morning fog, with a promise to see him again one day on his lips. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell, but Brandon was the Lone Wolf of Winterfell, once called wild he now ruled with the patience of a saint. He heard the small folk whisper how Ned’s spirit must have given it to him, and that thought comforted Brandon, when his wife’s body could not.

 

8 8 8

 

Their plot of land, being so close to the ocean had moist soil, and it seemed nature had used it to grow many things wildly. Some food, other to spice the food, some to heal, and others to harm. It wasn’t much but it was an honest way to live for their small family. He may have been regarded as dull and perhaps dumb by others, but Ned held knowledge of how to manage money. Jon Arryn made sure of that, as did Robert’s impulses. He knew the gold he had stolen from Westeros held more weight than some realized, perhaps even more weight than Lyanna realized. His apprenticeship under Ludd had led to him learning of many ways a man could make money in Essos, a common one that of having trade investments involving ships, such as Ludd’s himself ship.

 

Ned had taken his time feeling for his options and though the work he did for Janeya, it was not where a lot of their money came from. He had put a not small amount of coin into the trading of the local goods all across the world, gaining money at a small but steady rate.

 

 Lyanna, of course, had called him Eddard for a fortnight when he finally confessed just where their money was truly coming from. That had hurt him more than he would admit, but when she finally called him Ned it was with a kiss to his cheek and a pinch of his ear. He had of course accepted her demands of no more secrets, for it was secrets that had them in Braavos to begin with.

 

Still the two of them would not sit idle while coin came to them from the trading of local goods across the lands, and so they worked their land, growing foods and herbs in their dark soil. The land even held a spring of fresh water for any of their water needs.

 

Life was turning around for them, but soon they would have to make a choice, and it would decide many fates.

 

8 8 8

 

Their father had once said that Ned collected wild things and strays like a flame does moths. It was that particular memory that stuck in her mind when Ned brought to children home with him from one his regular visits to the main port to collect their earnings and decide what to trade with next. He had told her he had been keeping tabs on the children he thought where Targaryen’s hiding from the Baratheon Rule. Ned was convinced they were and had mentioned to her the old man that had accompanied them everywhere seemed to have passed not too long ago.

 

The children both had eyes and hair like their dead older brother. Silver hair framing purple eyes and faces with sunken cheeks. Seeing them up close she knew Ned was right, they held the same look as their brother, Rhaegar Targaryen, the father of her son.

 

“It seems their guardian has died, and I thought perhaps that we had the space to help two grief-stricken children.”

 

Ned’s voice held an edge that she recognized, it was when he was angry, but what his anger was directed at was a mystery to her, for now.

 

“I was just thinking we should try for a second ourselves, husband, but it seems the gods have granted us two more children.”

 

She couldn’t help the smile when she saw the hope in the two children’s eyes, it seemed as if they had lost all of it, but Ned would not let them flounder. No, he had a habit of collecting wild things as well as strays.

 

Later that night she and Ned watched the two children curl around one another on the spare bed they had bought for when Jon grew old enough to sleep on his own.

 

“It will be a long road to help them, Ned.”

 

“Aye, Lya, I know but I couldn’t let them suffer.”

 

“Viserys will have to be tempered, the way he talks of being king, it’ll get him killed. I do not wish for that to happen.”

 

“We will raise them right, Lyanna. With us at least they will not be hunted, with us they have a chance of becoming happy.”

 

Lyanna let herself lean into Ned’s chest as his arms wrapped around her middle, it was a familiar gesture, one from their childhood, but Lyanna wouldn’t let Ned know she drew more intimate comfort from it than before.

 

“We can all be happy, sweet Ned.”

 

8 8 8

 

Winter had arrived to Braavos in full force, and the family of now five spent most of their days making the house more of a home. Lyanna, proved to be quite good at what she hated learning when she was growing up. She sewed fabrics together to make clothes to fit the children playing with the dolls she had sewed together along with the wooden toys Ned had carved.

 

The two newest additions to their family settled quickly, though Lyanna and Ned were still trying to temper Viserys ‘s thirst for a crown that would get him killed. It was getting easier for the not married couple to fall into their respective roles as mother and father. They had practice with a baby from Jon, her boy growing faster and faster by the day. Jon and Daenerys were nearly of the same age, and Lyanna caught herself many times comparing the two siblings to her own son. Jon looked every bit of the North as Lyanna and Ned did, not an ounce of Targaryen in him, though Lyanna could start to see the shape of his father in his face, he acted as much like Ned as possible.

 

Lyanna was brought from her musing by Viserys as he claimed once more, he was the rightful king of Westeros. Ned was quick to quell the boy’s shouts, talking to him in a soothing voice of the consequences of such words. Viserys stomped his foot like a child is prone to do but quieted when Ned announced supper would be ready shortly.

 

Viserys seemed happier with that announcement as was Lyanna. She had been surprised to find Ned could cook stew so warming it would keep the long nights chill from reaching their bones. He would not tell her of his recipe, keeping it a secret from her even when she tried to glare it out of him. The bastard would only fluster her with a kiss to her forehead and a teasing, dear sister as his answer.

 

She didn’t let him know she would be fine without the answer if only he kept treating her so tenderly.

 

8 8 8

 

Winter had passed as summer was back in all its glory, meaning that they all wore less layers. Viserys had adjusted well, with Daenerys to young still to truly understand they weren’t her true parents. Viserys had accidentally called him father once after a long day of work and had quickly turned red at the slip up. Ned remembered pretending not to hear the boy and had not missed the young boys smile as he slipped into sleep.

 

His eyes were not on the children all running in a circle around the house, trying to catch one another as they weaved through the trees. No, his eyes were, perhaps wrongly, glued to the bead of sweat that was currently traveling Lyanna’s exposed navel. Ned himself was shirtless and Lyanna deemed the weather warm enough to wear one of the local’s styles. Her top was modest in a sense, in that it covered her breasts, but it left a lot of her torso exposed, as did the side split breeches she wore. His thoughts were shameful, and he had to look away lest he be caught with a red face. He would not think of his sister that way, the way Targaryen’s did. Yet, a small voice in the back of his mind urged him on, and he kept finding it harder and harder to ignore it.

 

It was simple in a sense, Ned was a man and a man had natural urges, and Lyanna though his sister was beautiful, and a woman at that. He would not shame their sham of a marriage though and so he was left with his shameful thoughts and dreams he had been having. Though there were times where he could swear Lyanna knew his thoughts and was teasing him accordingly, the outfit she was wearing being a good example. He knew the children would know no different if he simply took Lyanna into his arms and kissed her as passionately as he did in his dreams, but he would not do such a thing. It was wrong, wasn’t?

 

8 8 8

 

They had been in their home, and that was what it was, for more than a couple years and their children were working throughout the house as much as they could help. Viserys held onto some of his arrogance but had brought up being a prince and rightful king less and less as time had passed and Ned taught him the value of hard work. Jon and Daenerys were close, perhaps being of the same age had them huddling together to listen when Ned read to them and talking to each other more often than anyone else.

 

Ned had grown more muscle from his work in the fields that needed constant work, and his hands were calloused from it, and his daily sword practice. Lyanna knew this for she patched them up anytime he hurt himself, no matter how big or small.

 

It was her turn to make their food for the night and she was baking bread within the hearth and the house smelled of the spices she used in it as the stew bubbled slowly. It wasn’t what they grew up in, but Lyanna liked this life more than her one in the North. She felt free and with Ned and the children by her side, she felt like this place was truly their home now, and she would do whatever was needed to keep it. They had received a letter, delivered by a messenger from Westeros some weeks before, and Ned almost threw it into the fire without reading it, but she convinced him otherwise. It was from Varys; the spider and he knew. Ned’s jaw had tightened to the point she could hear it crack as his teeth grinded together in anger. He relaxed a she continued reading the letter, and it seemed as Varys would not give their secret up, but he also asked of the last two Targaryen’s. They had relaxed at the end of the letter, the Spider didn’t know all then, and Jon was still safe as were their two other children, for they truly were their adopted children now as the youngest called them mother and father. Viserys did so as well but more often than not he seemed embarrassed when he did.

 

They ate together, as they did every night, listening to the stories of their children of what they did when they played all day with one another, or of Viserys when he played with the village kids. The kid’s nights ended with Ned telling stories Old Nan had told them, and of ones he had picked up while he was within the city on business.

 

Ned’s and Lyanna’s nights usually consisted of Ned massaging her feet when she fake complained of all the time he had her stand on them, but tonight there was a different feeling in the air. It seemed to be alive as if a song was being played, one that had been building for the years they had pretended.

 

“Lya-”

 

“Ned-” they began at the same time, and Ned ever the gentleman when it came to her, let her go first, as always.

 

“Ned, I love you.”

 

“And I you Lya.” Ned’s smile was innocent, but she groaned in frustration at it for the first time.

 

“No. Ned, I love you.”

 

“I know Lyanna, I love you too.” Again, the smile but it was coupled with a furrowing of his brows.

 

He still did not understand. So, she leaned forward, and they shared their first kiss. It was not simple, it was ferocious. Her wolfs’ blood sang, and she let it lead her through the steps she had only danced once before. Only this time it seemed so much more right. Ned was an active participant and her jealousy spiked when her thoughts wondered of who he had practiced with. Those thoughts were silenced though as her blood sang the further they went, Ned meeting every step in kind, they were slow but eager, as if they had been waiting for the other to make the first move. With the first step of their dance an avalanche had followed as their lips met with a hunger that was left unfed since it was born.

 

M-Rated Section Start

 

Ned’s strong arms easily carried her past the threshold of their room, his boot closing the door with a soft thud. They were eager but aware of their sleeping children. The eagerness did not leave them even as their clothes did. Lyanna knew she had awoken Ned’s wolf blood as his teeth scraped against her neck, biting gently but enough to leave a mark. It caused a noise to erupt from her chest and she returned the mark, and Ned’s growl had her clenching in anticipation.

 

They were wolves, they were pack, they seemed to be made for one another. Her hand gripped him firmly as his fingers pinched and teased her breasts. They were not thinking, they had no need to, both needy for the other in a primal way. It was instinct yet fate all in one. They would switch who lead the dance so much it was as if they were spinning in circles, each giving and taking as much as they could. Lyanna firmly gripped her brother’s length and revealed in the cute animalistic noise she caused to come from deep within his chest. Ned would return her act in kind, his fingers and tongue doing things that had her toes curling and her hand gripping his hair, and her blush ran to her breasts at the noises he had coming from her.

 

They had both caused one another to be spent once, but their instincts urged them on as Lyanna straddled Ned’s lap, her hands pushing into his hard chest as he laid back. Her nails dug red lines along his chest as his own fingers pinched her perked nipples, causing her to growl out a moan and return the pinching in kind. The were not animals controlled by their lust now, no they were lovers’ hands clenched together as they met one another’s hips over and over again, never once out of time with one another, their lips were together more than not. They were brother and sister, they were Ned and Lya, they were one another’s only, they were one, and they were lovers true and pure.

 

Their panting, moans of ecstasy rose in frequency if not volume. Their chests heaved as they neared the edge, together, as always. Their chest heaved, breaths mingling together as one a kiss was shared until they came together as one, as a man and woman. The lay together as one, eyes not moving from the others as silence reigned in the room. The night was long, and the air was cold, but in that room, love was born, spread, and shared in a single love filled moment.

 

M-Rated Section End

 

They may have been siblings before the kiss but now they shared a deeper bond, that of love and while it was similar to the love they already mutually shared, but it was very different indeed.

 

8 8 8

 

They had their fourth child many moons after their first night together. It was the first of their true born, but their fourth for the other three were just as much theirs as their new daughter. They named her Arya, and she was as wild as Jon was quiet, if her infantile wails were any indication.

 

The other three crowded around their mother, asking a million questions in a span of a few seconds. Ned shushed them as Lyanna proudly displayed their new sibling to them. They were a true family, even if only one of the came form the both of them. They were a pack, and a pack sticks together no matter how much the winds and snow tried to sperate them.

 

8 8 8

 

Years would pass, and the family would grow together, becoming stronger and stronger as their bonds deepened. The children would learn of the truth of who they were, with Viserys explaining things in a rather blunt way when Ned or Lyanna paused.

 

Viserys seemed intent to follow in Ned’s footsteps, to become a man of hard work and had ambitions owning his own trading company with enough ships to be considered a fleet. The boy who had a mad glint in his eye when he arrived at the small house in the woods was now a man with a calculating mind and a sharp wit, but with values of hard work and honesty worked deep within his bones.

 

Jon was a hard-working man, and better than his father with a sword. He seemed intent to join the militia of Braavos and prove himself a capable warrior and to provide for his budding family. It had surprised Ned but not Lyanna, when they announced they were together and expecting a child. Dany was not content to simply sit by and let Jon hog all the glory and followed in her mother’s footsteps, learning the way of the horse, bow, and sword just as much as Jon and Viserys had. Still their parents were supportive of them, though Lyanna laughed at Ned’s ignorance anytime the memory of their announcement was brought up.

 

Arya, she was the wildest of their children, and it was easy to see her wolfs blood was more of Lyanna than Ned’s as she got in all manner of trouble with anyone who she thought crossed her. She was scrappy and knew how to use it to her advantage. It helped she had an overly protective older brother that was not above teaching their youngest sister how to win fights. She was still to young, by a year, to truly be on her own, but Ned was the one who sat Viserys and Arya down and talked of them of what he knew what they were doing. He had never seen the two turn as red as they did that night, and he would laugh anytime it was brought up.

 

Ned and Lyanna were brother and sister, but lovers. Jon and Dany aunt and nephew, but lovers. Viserys and Arya were not related but raised as siblings and now lovers. They were a pack of dragons and wolves, perhaps even a song of ice and fire.

 

8 8 8

 

It was not often they rose with the sun anymore, their bodies not as young as they once were. Yet eve as they aged and grayer than dark was their hair, they still enjoyed one’s company as lovers did. Their bodies were so entangled one could not tell where one ended and the other began. Their faces held smiles as their lips met in a tender kiss, their bare bodies touching as much as they could.

 

They were two wolves, intertwined, and their blood howled in victory.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Well there it is, hope you enjoyed it! Please review, constructive criticisms are also welcomed as are just general comments. As usual, thank y’all for reading.
> 
> I hope I did Lyanna justice again, as I have stated before, I don’t have a lot of experience with GoT/ASOIF and don’t really plan on changing that, though I will continue writing these stories.
> 
> Well there it is, another Ned/Lyanna story in the series. I said in the comments of “A Mad World” that I fell in love with this pairing and their dynamic that I found flowing easily between them. I also said I would love to visit them again. 
> 
> Be honest, how many of you caught the reference to ‘A Mad World’?
> 
> In this one I also tried to incorporate more Point of Views from other characters to get a more fleshed out look of the story. I think I did it well enough but be sure to let me know if it was a success or a failure. If y’all like it, and if I believe I can make it work, I’ll add them in any future stories I work on.
> 
> Let me know what y’all thought of the small rated M section. I consider it a soft M, and not truly breaking the T-Rating, but some folks are iffy of that. I told y’all I don’t like smut and graphic details of sex in the stories I read or write, and that is still true. I hope it was okay, as I tried to capture the moment of two people coming together after a long time of buildup. Please let me know what you think about it. Maybe, just maybe if people are into this soft-M rated thing I might include it in a future story. Perhaps.
> 
> I do like this story, and it’s more of a journey to get Ned and Lyanna together than what happens after they do was the case in ‘A Mad World’ and my other stories for that matter. I think I did a good job, and like how the story went. Even if it’s a bit different than the previous stories in the series. 
> 
> Who knows maybe I could come back and write a chapter 2 that continues where we left off? I did enjoy the set up for this story and wouldn’t mind visiting it in a long chapter 2 that goes more in depth about what happens after the events of this part. Though I think the story is complete, I would not mind visiting it again but only if y’all would maybe want to see it one day. Though, as always, I never make promises about when anything would ever get done.
> 
> If any of you feel this story is incomplete, don’t worry I did as well until I figured out why. It’s because the ending is where I usually start off a story. I usually have an event happen and then write about the changes said event had, but in this one we the story is more of building up to what the moment is. As I said I’m not opposed to making a chapter 2 and it would be in the more traditional style, but I’d like to see all of your guys opinion on it first. 
> 
> This story went under three mass deletions, meaning I deleted every word and started over. Still I think this one is the best I could do, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did making it. 
> 
> As of posting this story, the NSDB Series itself has amassed 50 bookmarks, a big milestone for me. Thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to read my stories!
> 
> I hope you’ll stick around for the next one, whenever it may be!
> 
> -WolfB
> 
> NSDB For Life!


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